Family Affairs
by needdl
Summary: Neji and Tenten were finally starting to figure out how to balance the whole "two kids in the house now" thing. Chapter Four: The weekend starts in earnest.
1. Chapter One

**a story that's basically a bunch of domestic family fluff. entirely plotless. four chapters total, updated throughout this week.**

**(it will contain some ~sexy timez~ between neji and tenten so there is that.)**

**i do not own _Naruto_.**

* * *

Neji frowned at the document he had just printed, brushing his fingertip along the edges of the words where they had become light gray and streaked. "Tennie," he called towards the living room, "Can you bring me the new ink cartridges when you get a chance? They're on the counter."

"Sure!" She hollered back. "Might take a few minutes!"

"All right, thank you."

He crossed back over to his desk and sat down, picking up his pen and rotating it in his fingers as he read through the fax a client had sent. The pen had been a gift from Tenten and Hui Na for his 30th birthday- though of course, Hui Na was only one month old at the time, and likely hadn't been vital to the decision-making process.

He used the pen in the home office, because he knew Tenten liked to see him use it. It was a comfortable weight in his hand, and he'd become so accustomed to it that he often contemplated bringing it to and from work- but never did, as the risk of losing it in transport was too high.

A slight commotion to his side made him turn, expecting to see Tenten with the ink cartridges. "Thank you-" he began, only to cut himself off when his gaze didn't meet Tenten's. Instead, he lowered his gaze to look at Haruki as he plopped himself onto his bottom from where he had crawled to his father's feet.

"Hm. You're not my wife." Neji told him. Haruki's breath came in quiet pants as he stared up at him, drool running down his chin and onto his bib. He grinned up at Neji, and Neji smiled back easily.

"I'm glad we baby-proofed in here. Did you crawl all the way from the living room? You're getting pretty good at this." He scooped up his son and set him down in his lap, lifting the bib to swipe away some of the copious drool that Haruki was producing so much of these days.

After a moment, he noticed the objects stuck to the back of Haruki's onesie. He lifted one off and frowned at it, before calling, "Tenten, did you... tape the cartridges to Haruki?"

A loud peal of laughter sounded from down the hall. "Oh my god, did he actually crawl all the way down there? I didn't think that would work!" Tenten's voice could barely be heard through laughing fits, and Neji shook his head as he pulled off the last few ink cartridges. "Your mama's weird," he told Haruki.

Tenten shouted, "We're gonna have this kid _so _well trained!"

"_Very _weird," Neji amended, standing up and propping Haruki on one hip as he crossed to the printer, ink cartridges in hand. "Want to help me put in the ink, little man?"

Haruki's breath puffed against his ear, and he reached out to wrap his chubby fist around Neji's tie. "Oh, good," Neji said.

Haruki watched with vague interest as Neji swapped out the cartridges. He let out a tiny baby sigh and shoved his fingers in his mouth, then reached out the same drool-covered hand to grip Neji's hair.

"This is why your mama wears her hair up," Neji told him, teasing the strand out of his fist. "That, and because she's one of the only people who can pull off the two buns. Don't tell her I said that."

"I won't," Tenten said cheerfully as she entered the office. She blew a loud raspberry on Haruki's cheek, then looked up at Neji. "I'm going to go pick up Hui Na, you guys good?"

"Sure," Neji smiled down at Haruki. "We'll have a fun time looking over patents."

"You can make a boys' day of it," Tenten grinned. She leaned up and kissed Neji briefly. "All right, see you in a bit. Oh, you want me to pick up dinner on the way home, or do you feel like cooking?"

"Is that how it is?" Neji murmured to himself. To Tenten, he said, "If you feel like stopping, go ahead. If not, just text and I'll make something."

"Sounds good." Tenten kissed him again, then turned to Haruki. "Bye-bye love bug!" she kissed the top of his fuzzy head and headed out the door. Neji heard the garage door swing shut, and a few minutes later Tenten's car backed out of the driveway.

He turned to look down at Haruki, who was making little noises as he gummed at his fingers. "Well, little man, let me tell you about financial infringement."

* * *

Tenten came home with Hui Na, takeout, and the double trouble of Rock and Metal Lee. Metal was thrilled to race after Hui Na while she marched around the kitchen table, into the living room, around the room's perimeter, back into the kitchen, then around and around the table, over and over again, chanting about stomping work.

(That was her exact phrase- "stomping work". They weren't sure what it meant, but she had her brow lowered in her fiercest expression, which meant it was Very Serious.)

Haruki watched the pair with some interest, strapped into his high chair and slapping his hands down on the tray. Every once in a while when Hui Na clomped past him, he'd let out a soft noise, and she'd reach up and pat his knee.

Neji and Lee finished setting the table and called Hui Na over to wash up. Ever her loyal shadow, Metal followed a few steps behind, and let out a happy shriek when Lee presented him with a banana.

"Nanaaaaaaa!"

"Nanaaa!" Lee echoed, grinning widely. He lifted up Metal and plopped him down in his booster seat.

Hui Na plunked herself down at her usual spot (the head of the table, of course) and piped, "Uncle Sensei, how come Metal likes bananas so much?"

"Because they are full of potassium!" Lee said cheerfully, sitting down next to Metal and hastily peeling the banana as the toddler made grabby gestures with his hand. Lee cut off toddler-sized bites of banana and put them on the mat in front of Metal, who grabbed them and shoved them in the general direction of his mouth.

Tenten put a plate of take out in front of Hui Na, who clapped her hands together and bellowed up at the ceiling, "_THANKYOUFORTHEFOOD!_"

"Inside voice, Hui Na," Neji reminded her quietly as he sat down with Haruki's strained carrots. She'd had dinner at the Hyuga estate a few weeks ago with her aunts and great-uncle, and apparently picked up some of their traditions.

(Neji had fallen out of this particular habit a few weeks after he and Tenten moved into their first apartment together, as she nearly always forgot to say it and would look up at him guiltily, one cheek stuffed with food.)

Hui Na, having recently discovered the tradition, had evidently decided its true purpose was to test the capacity of her lungs, and got louder and louder each time. Neji and Tenten were not exactly thrilled with the prospect of her accidentally waking up Haruki from a nap some time in the future, and were hoping to curb the yelling before it became an issue.

Tenten nudged her way between Neji's seat and the chair next to it, leaning across the table to set Lee's plate full of food in front of him. Neji watched the movement as it stretched out her figure and drew her clothing across her body. He looked away before Lee could catch him, but Tenten noticed his gaze and gave him a little smirk.

She drew her hand across his shoulder blades as she walked past him, tangling her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck for a millisecond before grabbing the last few plates off of the kitchen counter and bringing them over. She set Neji's down in front of him and kissed his temple as she did.

Before she could pull away entirely, he grabbed her wrist and tugged her back down to kiss her mouth. Tenten made a small, startled sound at the action, but kissed him back eagerly enough.

"Hem, hem," Lee enunciated very carefully. They turned to look at him, Tenten with a slight blush but still looking determined, and Neji completely unrepentant.

"Some of us have spouses that are out of town, and it's rude to rub it in our faces," Lee told them pointedly as he offered Metal his sippy cup.

"Sucks for you," Tenten said cheerfully, and kissed Neji again.

Hui Na let out a dramatic sigh and stared up at the ceiling. "Mom, that's gross."

"Goss!" Metal bellowed. Haruki let out a little whine and stretched his hand out towards the container of carrots on the table. Properly chastised, Neji opened it and offered him a spoonful, which despite Neji's best efforts mostly wound up splattered across Haruki's fat cheeks. Haruki didn't seem to care, gumming happily and making little noises as he gleefully reached out for another bite.

Across the table, Hui Na was primly eating the bites of her rice, having finally mastered her chopsticks. Between bites- because around company she was a lady and waited to talk until she didn't have any food in her mouth, a courtesy she did not tend to give her parents- she chattered happily about the dojo, her school friends, and the icky bugs they had looked at in science class today, Uncle Sensei did you know that some caterpillars hibe'nate before they turn into butterflies? She liked butterflies but she still thought that caterpillars looked a lot like worms so she didn't like those as much.

Every once in a while, Metal would catch a word that she said and repeat it at the top of his lungs, grinning happily. Lee puffed up with pride every time he did.

Meanwhile Haruki was _very _focused on the carrots Neji was feeding him, reaching out to wrap his hands around his father's fingers as he spooned the orange goop into his mouth and complicating the process greatly.

Neji would try to take his hand back after a spoonful, but Haruki wouldn't let go, instead gumming at Neji's fingers and covering them in a mixture of baby drool and strained carrots. Any attempts to pull away were met with much distress. Haruki would then realize he wasn't being fed and begin to whimper, all the while clutching Neji's hand. Neji would have to break Haruki's hold on him and quickly get him another bite before Haruki started crying in earnest.

It was a process that Haruki repeated every time they fed him solid foods. They couldn't feed him fast enough, or let him play with their hands long enough. He cried after every meal- in his little baby logic, no longer being fed was absolutely the worst thing to ever happen in his entire universe.

Tenten was glad that Neji was taking this turn to feed him, because it meant she and Lee were able to catch up with each other- when Haruki and Metal joined their respective families, things had gotten a little chaotic on the whole "maintaining adult friendships" thing.

Between her own meal and conversation, Tenten offered Neji bites from his plate- an action he didn't seem to care for much, but he ate the food she gave him so really she was the winner in that particular situation.

Neji scraped the last bit of carrots from Haruki's cheeks with the edge of the spoon and fed them to him, then pulled his hand back warily.

Haruki gummed away happily for a moment, clenching his hands into fists and waving them furiously in the air, then turned his gaze onto the now-empty carrot container. His brow pinched.

"Oh, here we go," Hui Na cautioned, curious to watch the imminent hissy fit in the same way people were curious about looking at roadkill.

Haruki started to whimper, looking at Neji beseechingly. Neji reached out with a wet paper towel and began cleaning off the baby's hands and cheeks, a sign that the meal was really and truly over. Haruki let out a little sob.

He was fully crying when Neji started taking off his bib and pulling him out of his high chair, inconsolable over the end of his meal. Metal watched with wide, distressed eyes, then screwed up his face.

He was crying right along with Haruki a few moments later, turning to Lee and blubbering into his shirt (and smearing a mixture of snot and partially-chewed banana all over it.) Hui Na clapped her hands over her ears and muttered, _"Loud_."

"Here-" Tenten took Haruki from Neji's arms and settled him in her lap, bouncing him lightly as she shushed him. He slowly quieted, burying his face into her collarbone and gripping at her shirt with tight fists. She stroked her hand down the back of his hand in repetitive, soothing motions, and after a few minutes he fell quiet, cuddled against her.

Neji took the respite as a time to eat as Lee soothed Metal and plied him with more bites of banana. After a few minutes, the room was quiet again.

Hui Na cautiously took her hands off her ears. When there were no screaming babies or toddlers, she threw back her head and sighed. "Oh thank goodness."

Tenten grinned at her. "Don't act so high and mighty there, lovie. You were much louder than Haruki-chan when you were a baby."

"No!" Hui Na grinned and shook her head. "I wasn't never a baby, mom!"

"I have some stretch marks that would say otherwise."

"Setch!" Metal repeated (as best as he could, anyway). "Setch, setch setch!"

Hui Na blew a raspberry in response to her mother, which caught Haruki's attention. He straightened himself up and grinned at his sister.

Hui Na grinned back at him. "Mom, can I go hold Haruki-chan?"

Tenten raised her brows. "You haven't finished eating." She had eaten most of her rice, a bite of fish, and nothing else.

"I'm all full up."

"Eat your cucumber and your fish." Next to her, Neji and Lee had become engrossed in conversation as Metal munched away, radiating joy.

(That kid loved bananas, it was ridiculous.)

Hui Na huffed but complied. Tenten turned Haruki in her arms so he was facing the rest of the table, and he watched with interest as Hui Na poked at her plate.

Neji stood and began clearing away the finished plates, grabbing Tenten's and Lee's along with his own and bringing them into the kitchen. Hui Na shoved hers towards him hopefully, to which he gave her a skeptical look and a pointed nod at her fish. She pouted.

Twenty-five minutes and many slow bites later, Hui Na was finally excused and happily holding Haruki in front of herself as he roared with laughter over Metal and Lee running around the living room, wildly throwing fake punches at one another with loud sound effects.

Neji and Tenten were quietly conversing with one another as they washed and dried the dishes, in between fond looks over at the children in the living room (Lee included.)

Tenten walked behind Neji to put away the silverware in the drawer next to him and cheerfully groped his ass on her way back over to the drying rack. He startled a little and gave her a wide-eyed look, to which she tossed a saucy grin over her shoulder on her way to put the plates away.

He turned back to rinsing the last of the dishes, face flushed. Tenten grinned to herself and leaned over to wrap her arms around his waist and rest her cheek on his shoulder, humming happily to herself as he briefly stroked his fingers over the top of her hand in response.

She pressed a kiss to the bit of neck exposed by his low ponytail and drew away again to dry the last dishes.

Lee and Metal headed home soon after. Metal gave them all (including Haruki) a kiss on the cheek before he left, which was adorable, and then Lee did the same. (Which Tenten and Neji didn't like receiving as much, especially because Lee made a very big deal about it in order to make Hui Na and Metal laugh.)

Tenten took Haruki upstairs for bed at 7:00 PM, slowly working through the routine they'd established. He'd started sleeping through the night a few weeks ago and they'd _all_ been enjoying it immensely, including Hui Na (who was having a "short" phase for the past three months where she'd make her way into her parents' room almost every night to sleep in their bed, then grump away when Haruki cried and woke her up. Neji had suggested that sleeping in her own room would be better, to which she'd politely told him, "No thanks!" She was so cute that they let her get away with it, but Tenten sometimes contemplated when would be the right point to cut her off.)

Haruki snuffling away, Tenten headed back downstairs and quickly grabbed the stack of student papers off of her desk in the office, then walked into the sitting area, where Hui Na was propping her head on her hands, elbows on the table, as she contemplated the shogi board in front of her. Neji, seated across from her in a meditative position, was smiling down at the top of her head and looking pleased and proud.

Tenten walked up quietly to them both and took a seat next to Neji, then pulled her phone out of her pocket to snap a secret picture of Hui Na as her cheeks squished under the pressure of her hands. She looked very serious, and also ridiculously adorable.

Tenten sent the picture to Neji, then settled back and drew the first paper towards her, pulling her reading glasses from her shirt pocket and putting them on. Neji slid his hand down her back and squeezed her hip- he always did kind of like the sexy nerd look, because he himself was definitely a sexy nerd.

"I go here," Hui Na announced, pushing her piece into place. She looked up at her father and gave him a "what are you gonna do about it" sort of look. He smiled. "Okay, why?"

"Because it stops your this piece from moving to there," she told him, pointing to what she meant.

"My lance," Neji explained. "And why is that a good idea?"

"Because now I can move my rook to here!" She pointed again, very excitedly. "But only after your turn."

"Good thinking, little bird." He gave her another proud smile.

Next to them, Tenten grumbled over a paper, then grabbed her red pen off the tabletop and started writing harshly in the margins.

"Hi mom!" Hui Na chirped. "Are you grading papers?"

"Yep." Tenten finished what she was writing and flipped the page. She continued on in a conspiratorial tone, "Don't tell my first-year students, but they're not very good at writing essays."

Hui Na giggled. "Okey dokey." She turned back to Neji. "Baba, your turn!"

"I'm going here," he said, moving his piece. "Why do you think I did that?"

The pair of them continued to go back and forth over the shogi board, with Neji patiently coaxing Hui Na's logic from her and explaining things she didn't understand. Hui Na's interest in shogi had been piqued when she last visited the Hyuga estate- the same day she learned the traditional thank-you before the meal. It had all around been a very interesting night for her. Hiashi had started to teach her, and when she got back home she'd begged Neji to do the same- to which he quickly and eagerly agreed. Now they played several times a week.

Tenten set another paper aside and slapped a quick post-it note on it explaining her reasoning for the grade, then picked up the next essay. It was from her (secret) favorite student, who was smart and cheerful and earnest and a little bit like what Tenten always thought Hui Na would grow up to be.

(Which was a thought that always made her both sad and proud, and Hui Na was only five.)

Tenten slowly wrapped up grading the last essay, actually enjoying parts of it and marking far fewer things for editing than the other essays. She put it in the "graded" stack and glanced back up at Hui Na and Neji, who were reaching the end of their game.

"_Ōte,"_ Neji said, pushing a last piece into place. Hui Na yelled, _"What!" _in exaggerated shock, puffing out her cheeks and wildly shaking her head at the board. Tenten hushed her, reminding her "Haruki-chan is sleeping, Hui Na."

"Sorry," she stage-whispered, abashed. "Baba, you cheated!"

"Did not," Neji said in offended dignity. "I'm just the smartest man in the world, is all."

"Oh, okay then," Hui Na said.

Suddenly, the slight nagging feeling Tenten had been having clicked into place. "Oh!" She (quietly) slapped her hand down on the table in recognition as Neji and Hui Na turned to look at her. "It's Hui Na's bath night!"

"That's right," Neji recalled. For her part, Hui Na seemed unbothered.

"Let's get you in the tub, lovie."

"Okey dokey," she agreed. "Then you gotta pick up the shogi, baba."

They all looked at the shogi board and pieces scattered around the table, then Tenten cheerfully said, "She got you there. See in in a bit, babe."

She threw Hui Na over her shoulder and they made their way upstairs, giggling conspiratorially over Neji's loud, put-upon sigh.


	2. Chapter Two

**chapter two! good stuff. the next part may be up on sunday or (more likely) will be up by wednesday next week.**

**please note this chapter contains the beginning of the sexy stuff, so view at your own discretion!**

**oh, also there is some discussion of a difficult birth and a c-section, in case anyone needs to watch for that!**

* * *

Hui Na usually just _tolerated_ her baths. They did not excite her, but nor did she hate them. She usually liked to sit and talk to her parents rather than playing with any bath toys, and would usually hurry things along herself.

Such was the case in this particular evening. "I'm ready to shampoo now," she told Tenten politely, propping her arms over the rim of the tub and resting her chin on them.

"Already?" Tenten asked. She'd only just gotten her hair wet.

"Yep." Hui Na said. "I don't really like baths, mom. I just sit in hot water until I'm boiled."

"Until you're _clean_." Tenten told her.

"Nope, boiled. You haveta call me miss ramen noodle instead of miss strawberry."

"That doesn't sound as cute."

"Yeah. So if you want to keep calling me miss strawberry, I can't take baths anymore. Sorry mom."

"What a slick way to get out of bath night," Tenten said conversationally, leaning over to grab the shampoo off the edge of the tub. "Here, let's wash you up."

Hui Na tilted her head back, closing her eyes as Tenten worked the shampoo into a lather over her scalp.

"I like the head rub part though," she told Tenten, "But not if the shampoo gets in my eyes."

"We're very careful not to do that."

"But I don't like it when it does."

Tenten leaned down and kissed her nose. Hui Na's eyes flew open, and she stared at Tenten with a startled look. Tenten grinned at her.

"You're cute."

"Baba says if you say that too much to me it'll go up in my head."

"Your baba thinks you're the cutest thing in the world too, that hypocrite."

"I know," Hui Na preened. "What's hypo- hypocrite?"

"Someone who says something that someone else does is bad, but does that same thing too."

"Oh." Hui Na reflected on this for a while as Tenten started rinsing the shampoo from her hair with a cup. "So like when you take two treats but say I only get one, and it's different because you're the mom and you have different rules?"

Tenten felt the sharp sting of having a precocious child. "Yes," she said grudgingly.

Hui Na giggled. "Okey dokey."

The bathroom was silent except for the soft splashing of the tub. Tenten absently massaged Hui Na's scalp with her fingers, smiling as her daughter made happy noises and settled down against the rim of the tub.

"Hey mom?"

"Hm?"

"Can Lei come over and play this weekend?"

"Sure, lovie. I can text her parents tomorrow and ask."

"Okay. That's really good mom, know why?"

"Why?"

"Because Lei only met Haruki-chan four times and we want to play with him together."

"Ooh, I bet he'll like that."

"Yep! He really likes people."

"Lei has an older sister, right?"

"Mm-hm. Meirong. She's nice but sometimes she doesn't like it when we go in her room."

"That makes sense. You don't really like it when we go in your room without permission either."

"Yeah, but s'different 'cause you're my mom and baba."

"I'm glad you know that," Tenten told her cheekily. "Just remember that the next time I catch you reading with a flashlight after bedtime."

Hui Na puffed out her cheeks again. "Hmph."

"That's right," Tenten said. "Can't fool a mom."

"Or a dad," Neji said quietly, entering the bathroom and putting down the lid of the toilet to sit. He placed a baby monitor on the sink counter.

"Or a dad," Tenten echoed.

"Yeah I can," Hui Na said, _very _confidently.

They both stared at her, then Neji inquired flatly, "When have you done that?"

Hui Na flicked her eyes between the two of them, analyzing the weight of their stares, before she said, "Just joking. Haha."

"Hm. Convincing." Neji murmured. Tenten snorted. "Yeah, good cover up, miss strawberry."

"I'm miss ramen noodle." Hui Na said imperiously. "I'm all boiled up now. Put me in brof and give me to Naruto-ojisan."

"Bro_th_, sweetheart. Not brof." Neji said.

"I said that, baba. Brof."

"Bro_th_. Like _th_ose, _th_em, _th_eir."

"Yeah I know! Brof like _f_ose, _f_em, _f_air."

Neji grinned, shifting to rest his forearms on his knees and putting his face closer to Hui Na's. "Now you're just being silly."

"I'm a silly noodle," Hui Na announced, pulling away from the edge of the tub to spin around in it.

They both grinned at her adoringly. "We have cute kids," Tenten told Neji.

He nodded sagely. "That's quite true. Hopefully they never find out or they'll always bring it up."

"Heard that!" Hui Na turned to face them, giggling. "I'm cute!"

"Oh no! How did she find out!" Tenten despaired, throwing her head back dramatically. Hui Na laughed again, draping her arms over the sides of the tub to drag her fingertips on the floor.

"Are you so eager to be finished with your bath that you'll slowly creep out of the tub and onto the floor?" Neji asked her, reaching out to nudge at her arms.

She let them flop around dramatically at the touch. "Look at my noodle arms!"

"All right, noodle girl, let's drain the tub and get you dried off." At Neji's suggestion, Tenten reached into the tub and pulled the drain, and Hui Na pivoted again to watch all the water drain out of the tub.

Neji grabbed her towel and tiny robe from the hook behind the door. "Stand up and towel off, little bird." Hui Na stood up carefully and held out her arms so Neji could wrap the towel around her, then laughed gleefully as he scooped her out of the tub and put her down on the mat. He kissed her forehead.

"Dry yourself off, please."

"Can't," she chirped. "My noodle arms don't work."

"Oh really?" In a sudden movement, he scooped her over his shoulder and shook her around gently. "The I guess I'll have to just toss you into bed like this."

"No!" Hui Na wiggled madly. "No, I can do it! I need to put on my jammies before I go to bed, baba!"

"Fine, if you insist." He put her back down and they swapped out her towel for her bathrobe. "All right, once you're done getting dressed then come back in to brush your teeth."

Hui Na let out a huff, throwing her robe on. "Yeah I _know_, baba."

They both frowned at her tone. "I thought kids weren't supposed to have attitude problems until they were teenagers," Tenten remarked to Neji, meeting Hui Na's guiltily defiant gaze with her own brows raised.

Hui Na broke her gaze and scowled at her feet. "I just wanna get my jammies on now."

"That's fine, but you don't need to be a stinker about it," Tenten told her. She let the silence grow a little bit longer, then said. "All right, go get pajama'd."

Hui Na sulked her way out of the bathroom and down the hall. Neji leaned back against the sink counter and folded his arms across his chest, listening as Hui Na's door swung open and then latched shut.

She only ever closed the door to her room when she was mad about something, and Neji and Tenten exchanged looks. "She really hates being told what to do," Tenten remarked.

"She certainly does," he murmured. They looked at each other, Tenten still tucked into the corner between the wall and the tub and Neji standing over her with his arms folded.

Tenten held out her hands towards him, and after a moment he uncrossed his arms and grabbed her hands in his own. He pulled her up to her feet and stepped back to give her space, but Tenten used the extra momentum to surge up on her tiptoes and kiss him.

Neji made a small, slightly startled sound in the back of his throat, and Tenten smiled against his mouth. His hands, still clasped around hers, slowly moved to twine his fingers with her own.

Tenten's feet were beginning to ache, so she slowly lowered herself back down, insistently tugging Neji with her. He slowly wrapped one arm around her to splay out across her lower back, reaching the other hand up to cup the back of her head and tilt it as he wished.

(Tenten's head spun a little- she hadn't quite expected this spontaneous kiss to last so long, or for Neji to suddenly be in control of her pliant lips.)

Neji drew back and pressed a line of kisses from her temple to the soft patch of skin beneath her jaw, then pulled away and released his grip around her. She blinked up at him, doe-eyed and alluring.

"I can wrap up getting Hui Na to bed," he rumbled, voice spilling from the back of his throat. Tenten nodded, her gaze riveted to his face and a small, funny little smile curling the edges of her mouth.

He found out what the smile meant half an hour later after he finished reading to Hui Na and put her to bed, then exited her room and closed the door softly behind him.

There was soft light spilling from the open doorway of the master bedroom, the only light in the entire house- Tenten had apparently turned off all the lights downstairs in meaningful invitation.

Neji entered the room slowly, ignoring the anticipation seeping into him. Tenten had left one lamp lit on his side of the bed but was nowhere in sight.

He paused to lean over Haruki's crib, watching the baby gum at his pacifier in his sleep. Neji was quite confident he'd be able to sleep through whatever- _activities_ his parents got into, but took a moment to plan for if he did wake up.

(Maybe they could move the crib down the hallway once the time came, where it was darker and sounds would be muffled.)

He stood back from the crib again, fondly watching Haruki clench one of his fat little hands close and and screw up his face. The pacifier drooped ever so slightly out of his mouth, so Neji gently reach out and nudged it back in. Haruki quieted.

The lights were on in the bathroom, so Neji pulled away from the crib and walked quietly down the short hallway in the room, then paused in the doorway and stared.

Tenten was leaning forward over the counter to look in the mirror, applying a natural lipstick color and making the rather ridiculous-looking face that accompanied it. She was dressed in her crushed velvet two-piece sleepwear set- which they both liked quite a bit, Neji because it was almost criminally seductive and Tenten because it was apparently very cozy (plus his very positive reaction whenever she wore it did elevate her ego).

She'd taken down her hair from her buns and loosely braided it over her shoulder, and the strands that weren't quite long enough to weave in the others fell softly around her face, teasing at her skin in whisps. Neji's fingers itched to pull the hair tie out and run through the silken strands.

But he didn't move from the doorway, instead watching as Tenten rubbed her lips together with one last _smack _and stood back from the mirror, fiddling with her bangs and pulling a few more strands out to fall suggestively over her cheeks. She capped the lipstick and gave her reflection a little nod of approval, then put it back in her make up bag and turned to exit the bathroom.

She met Neji's gaze and froze, her body language like that of a startled wild animal. A myriad of tiny expressions crossed her face, and eventually she straightened up, propped her hands on her hips, and declared, "Damn it, Neji, couldn't you have taken ten more minutes?"

He shrugged. Tenten barrelled on, "I was gonna be all stretched out on the bed and beguile you with my cleavage, but noooo…"

Neji looked at the cleavage in question. It was very nice.

"You could still do that," he told Tenten's breasts.

She screwed up her face in thought, then cocked her hip out to the side. "All right. Stay here for two minutes."

She flounced past him, and just past his shoulder he brought his hand down and swatted her ass firmly. She stopped short.

"For fuck's sake, Neji."

He smirked a little at the phrasing, then realized that he could smell the cloud of her perfume, thick and heady, and desperately wanted her to move things along.

"A minute and fifty seconds, dearest."

She made an annoyed noise in the back of her throat, then continued out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. He could hear her scuffling around for a minute, and quietly called out again, "Thirty seconds."

She cursed under her breath, then fell silent. Neji waited the last thirty seconds and exited the bathroom, flicking the switch behind him so the only light in the room came from the dim bed lamp.

He walked slowly down the hallway, the anticipation singing in his nerves. The two of them hadn't actually played the seduction game in quite some time- not since before Haruki had been born. They'd had sex, of course, but with a baby and a very intelligent child in the house, it was usually scheduled, straightforward, and quick- kissing, lube, penetration, orgasm, cuddling, and sleep.

They'd both been feeling the pull for something a little more teasing and drawn out, and Neji was- well, _eager_, really, which wasn't terribly refined of him but it was Tenten, his wife, _seducing _him, and he was looking forward to every moment.

He did not actually rush his way to her, however- part of the game was drawing it out, until she was just as tense and impatient as he was.

He entered the main bedroom and stopped inside the doorway, his gaze drawing slowly up shapely, bared legs, the muscular flex of her thighs and the smooth flare of her bottom, the slight dip of her waist and then the expanse of her ribs, obscured by the drapings of her enticingly low-cut sleep shirt, the shadow between her breasts and the tiny chain necklace dipping into it, up over the slope of her neck and onto her face at last.

Tenten was draped back against the pillows, her eyes tracing over his figure just as much as he had been appreciating hers, one leg bent at the knee and resting over the other, stretched out and propping her head up on one hand with the other arm draped on her waist.

She looked like a pin-up model, provocative and knowing, and something in his gut clenched in sheer, unadulterated _want_.

Tenten smirked at him, sinking her teeth into her lip and beckoning him over to her with a finger. His feet moved obediently, and he dropped down onto his knees beside the bed, fascinated eyes watching as her head tilted and her dangling earrings danced over her skin.

(The small voice in the back of his head that was holding on to practicality was pleased to note that it was the ruby and diamond set that he'd gotten her for the holidays a few years ago, which she adored. It was nice to have his gestures be appreciated.)

She reached out and dragged her thumb across his lower lip, slow and pointed. "This is fun," she remarked, grinning in a very self-pleased sort of way and ruining the moment just a little.

He nipped her finger. "It's even more fun if you don't gloat."

"Impossible," she retorted. "I've got the most handsome man in the word worshiping me on his knees. Not too bad for Tenten."

His face flushed, ever so slightly. Tenten's continued and vocal attraction to him always made him feel a little- _shy_, for lack of a better word. He wasn't sure why; perhaps because he'd known her for so long that the idea of her actually wanting him in that way took him a little by surprise each time. In high school, she'd never shown any attraction to him- looking back on it, it was because she'd hidden it and kept them as friends. To have her comfortable in desiring him so vocally now was both flattering and humbling.

Tenten's self-satisfied expression slowly shifted into one of tenderness, and she moved her hand to cup his jaw and brought him up to kiss him. The residual tackiness of her lipstick against his mouth sent a thrill down his spine, throwing him back to days spent tangled in bedsheets as they first learned to map each other's bodies.

Tenten pulled his lower lip into her mouth and sank her teeth ever so slightly into it, pulling a low noise from Neji's throat that made her smirk as she pulled away. He half followed her with his mouth, and she put her fingertips over his lips and pushed him away ever so slightly.

"Patience, love," she purred. "Go lock the door."

Her voice was dark and sensuous, and he stifled the urge to beg another kiss from her. Instead he rose again and crossed to the door, double checking the hallway for a sleepy Hui Na before closing and locking it.

(If past nights were anything to judge by, they had perhaps until 10:30 before she made her way into their room- which gave them plenty of time.)

Door closed, he turned back to his wife. She was sitting up with her knees tucked away, "mermaid style," as Hui Na would declare it.

He met her eyes and stared for a moment. "God, you're beautiful," he breathed.

Tenten flushed pink, the color working its way down her neck and across her chest. His eyes tracked the movement, fascinated.

She ducked her chin for a moment, then seemed to muster herself and looked back at him. "Er- thanks."

Her fumblingly awkward reply made him smile, and he crossed back over to her and sat in front of her on the bed. Neji took her hands in his and considered them for a moment, looking at the fine bones on the back of her hands, the small scars crossing her fingers from when she was learning to use combat knives in middle school, the slight chipping of her soft pink nail polish, and her wedding ring, well-cared for and shining slightly even in the dim light.

It looked just as perfect on her finger now as it had the day he first slid it onto her hand, that moment when he hadn't been able to bear the idea of not being engaged to her a single second longer.

Tenten's finger moved minutely in his own, and after a moment he realized she was stroking his own wedding ring with the pad of her finger. His heart skipped a beat, and he felt a deep rush of affection for this woman, his best friend, who had given him so much, more complex and important than she could even imagine.

Neji leaned over, freeing one hand from their clasp, and lifted her chin up to press a kiss to her mouth, light and sweet. Tenten let out a little sigh, weaving her fingers into his hair and pulling him back until he was laying beneath her, with her body draped across his as she pressed deep, lingering kisses to his mouth.

(She smelled _wonderful_\- which was perhaps a strange thing to be paying attention to in the midst of all this build up, but she was wearing just a little of her vanilla and citrus perfume and the way it mixed with her warm skin made him feel lethargic and full.)

Tenten pulled away slightly to dip her head and kiss his pulse point, rotating his head to the side with her fingertips. His eyes, still closed from her syrupy kisses, fluttered open just the slightest and fell on Haruki's crib.

_Right_. The baby.

He squeezed Tenten's hips gently with his hands and made to sit up. "Just one moment, Tenten, I'm going to move Haruki's crib"

She pouted against his neck, just a little, but rolled off him so he could stand up and carefully push Haruki's crib into their closet. He turned on the monitor, then after a moment of thought turned up the white noise machine. A quick check on Haruki proved him to be safely asleep.

Task completed, he turned back to the bed and once more moved to embrace his wife, settling himself in the crux of her legs and slipping his fingers under her shirt to touch warm skin. She sighed against his mouth, very quietly, drawing her fingers through the hair on the nape of his neck and hitching her breath as his fingers trailed and invisible path over her ribs and stomach.

He paused for a moment, moving upright just the slightest bit and pushing her shirt up to look at the fading scar bisecting her lower abdomen.

They had felt so prepared for Haruki's birth, having gone through it with Hui Na years before and knowing what to expect. Their birth plan was in the final stages of being completed when Tenten woke up in the middle of the night, six weeks before the due date, to dizzying dread and the stark fear of knowing something was wrong.

They'd rushed to the hospital, an exhausted Hui Na in tow, and settled Tenten in with the doctor as Neji called Hinata to have her pick up Hui Na for the night.

And Neji had the horrible experience of having to keep calm in front of his tiny, scared daughter while they waited for her aunt to arrive, even while holding the knowledge that something was wrong, that the baby they'd been excitedly anticipating for months could very well never come, that his wife was struggling alone in the hospital room without his support.

But despite the fear they had both been feeling (especially after Haruki's tiny heart had stuttered mid-labor), one urgent but uncomplicated c-section later they had their little premature baby, round and soft and healthy.

The first person they'd told was Hui Na- and by proxy Hinata and Hiashi- because she was heartbreakingly worried over her mother and her baby sibling, sobbing anxiously the entire time she was separated from her parents.

Hinata and Hiashi had brought her back to see her parents as soon as they could in the morning, and the way she clung to them both made Neji's heart ache- he'd promised to himself then that he'd never leave her alone again in a situation so dire and confusing for her.

But they'd all recovered well, and Haruki grew fast and healthy. If had not been for the scar on Tenten's abdomen, Neji almost could have thought it had been a straightforward affair.

Tenten jerked him out of his thoughts by grabbing a fistful of the shirt on his back and starting to pull it off, a not-so-subtle reminder that he had a beautiful woman under him who also loved their children with all her heart but was focused on something else right now. Duly chastised, he turned his attention back to his wife.


	3. Chapter Three

**this chapter contains sexual material, so read at your own discretion. t****here is some kinkier things mentioned, i.e. slight bdsm**

**final chapter might actually be up tomorrow, but for sure by the end of the weekend. **

* * *

Tenten flung Neji's shirt off the side of the bed and reached to smooth her hands over the skin she had exposed, letting out a deep, satisfied sound from the back of her throat as she pricked his back with her fingernails. The sensation sent a shudder down Neji's spine, and his hips jerked forward almost involuntarily.

Tenten let out a hastily muffled gasp against his shoulder, her nails _raking _up his spine as he pressed against her.

The room was suddenly very, very warm, and the only thing that mattered now was getting Tenten out of that wonderful little velvet number and drawing patterns over her skin with his mouth.

He worked his hands under her shirt and started moving the fabric up. Tenten sat up to help him, fumbling with the shirt as it got caught on her right arm and flapping her hand in the air wildly until it fell off onto the floor next to the bed. Neji smirked slightly at the action, but his focus was quickly diverted to watching the slight movements of Tenten's breasts as she settled back onto the bed.

He leaned down to mouth at the warm skin between her breasts, cupping one in his hand and stroking his thumb over it as she let out a quiet, fluttering sigh. Her necklace glinted slightly in the low lighting, the tiny letter _N _on it sparkling between generous curves, and Neji felt a tiny curl of possessive satisfaction at the sight of it.

He enjoyed the feel of Tenten's breasts for a few more moments before drawing back again- Tenten was still nursing, and while her breasts were no longer as uncomfortable as they had been they still usually mostly left them alone (which was a lesson partially learned from back when Hui Na was a baby, and attempts at foreplay involving her breasts sometimes wound up with breastmilk in... unexpected and somewhat unwelcome places).

Tenten's hands slid down his bare chest and over his abs, and she ran her fingertips over the muscles with a pleased noise. "You have a pleasantly surprising amount of musculature for a guy with two kids who never works out," she told Neji.

"Looking after my children _is _how I work out," he said drily.

Tenten grinned and moved her hands to wrap around his ribcage. "Well, you look good."

"Thank you," he muttered, slightly embarrassed.

Tenten undid his low hair tie to pull his hair over his shoulders and let it flutter around her face, running her fingers through it with an expression that could only be described as tender. "Have I ever told you how much I like your hair?"

"Not in so many words…" He rolled onto his side and pulled Tenten with him so she was on top of him. "But you've made it fairly clear."

"Mm."She folded her arms over his chest and propped her chin on them so her face was a few inches from his. The sensation of her skin on his, warm and soft, was… stirring.

Tenten's brows shot up, and she gave him a cheeky grin. "Is that a case file in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

"Hn. Lawyer jokes."

"Yep."

"It's an erection. I want you to ride me."

Tenten's slightly smug expression faltered, and her face turned crimson in what was quite possibly the fastest Neji had ever seen it happen. Her eyes widened, and she ducked her head down to cover her face in her arms.

Neji waited (somewhat) patiently, undoing her braid to finally run his hands through her hair and down her spine. After a moment of thought, he reached down to grip her thighs and hoist her further up his torso.

She startled a little at the movement, hands moving to grip his shoulders, but eagerly inclined her head to kiss him.

They were moving desperately against one another a few minutes later, Tenten's confidence having returned to her, and she had just stripped his boxer briefs off of him when he slid his hand up the outer leg of her shorts and discovered she wasn't wearing panties beneath them.

Tenten smirked triumphantly at him as his hand tensed over her thigh, gripping it hard in his fingers. She was slipping out of the shorts moments later and tossing them gleefully aside, but rather than reaching into a discreet bedside drawer to pull out a condom, she once more settled just above his waist, his erection pressed prominently against her backside.

His brow furrowed. "Tennie, we need a condom-"

"You have things you need to do first," she told him sleekly, drawing a finger down his chest. She was up and moving again suddenly, making her way up his torso and throwing a leg over his face.

She gripped the headboard in both hands and smirked down at him. "Get to work."

At the sight of her above him, wearing nothing but her jewelry and a lustful smile, Neji's erection became so hard it almost hurt. Eagerly he reached up to grip her thighs and pulled her down onto his waiting mouth.

Performing oral on sexual partners hadn't been something that Neji had done very often, for a few reasons. One was that he'd had very few romantic partners at all, and usually when they eventually started having sex- because Neji refused to rush into things, and that meant waiting for them both to be ready- they had never much gotten past the most basic, vanilla positions before the relationships had ended.

(In retrospect, the fact that things had ended right as the sexual aspect of the relationship was starting was never a coincidence- Neji wasn't sure if it was because he always associated sex with an emotional connection they just didn't have, or if it was some other reason- but in any case, the relationships had slowly soured.)

Another reason was that those few partners had never asked him to do it, or they didn't seem to enjoy it that much- giving or receiving.

Which is why Tenten had been an outlier from the start- because they hadn't even technically been dating yet the first time they slept together, but Neji _had _known her for most of his life and trusted her intimately. Not to mention, that very same night, before they'd even moved into the bedroom, Tenten had given him the best fellatio of his life on the couch.

So yes, it could be said that with Tenten, his sexual experiences had compounded drastically. Not to mention, he'd discovered that he _very _much enjoyed giving oral sex to Tenten.

Neji dragged himself back into the moment, intent on drawing out Tenten's satisfaction for as long as possible. She was soft and slick under his tongue, and it wasn't long before she was throwing her head back and closing her eyes in silent pleasure as he delicately ran his tongue up to caress her clitoris.

He pulled back slightly as he felt her orgasm approaching, stopping before the pleasure reached her. Her eyes snapped back open, and she glared down at him, petulant disapproval radiating from her expression.

He hid his smirk between her legs. Looking her dead in the eye, he sucked her clitoris while sliding his finger into her wet heat.

He could tell when her orgasm hit her from the way she tensed around him, her thighs almost crushing his head while her hips jerked slowly over his face, riding out the waves. She looked ridiculously erotic, her necklace swinging between her breasts and mouth tilted in an exquisite _O _as she ground herself against him.

In that moment, the only thing she cared about was finishing up the last seconds of her orgasm. Neji was nothing more than a means to an end to her right then, and the thought was deeply satisfying to him.

Tenten pushed back slowly off his face, biting her lip and looking down at him as she settled down on his torso again. He could feel the residual dampness from her sex slowly sliding against his skin, and his cock ached in response.

Tenten finally reached past him and pulled a condom out of its hidden drawer, breasts brushing past his shoulder. Idly he raised his hand to caress one, tracing his fingers along the full curve and brushing his thumb over her nipple with the lightest touch. Under his fascinated gaze, it slowly peaked.

He couldn't resist any longer, and wrapped both his arms around her waist to tug her closer to him, pulling the rosy peak into his mouth and stimulating it just the slightest amount before pulling away again to trace the areola with his thumb. And of course symmetry was important, so Neji repeated the action with the other breast as well.

Tenten slowly drew back from him, condom clutched in hand, and gave him such a blazing, _carnal _look that he was suddenly very, very glad she was topping that night.

She tossed her hair back over her shoulders and imperiously considered his erection, palming it in her hand and curving her mouth in wicked delight as a groan dragged itself up from between his teeth.

She rolled the condom almost carelessly over him, then sank onto him with a sigh.

_Fuck_. She was wonderfully slick and warm around him, and she slowly began moving her hips forward and back along his torso, never lifting herself off him but sending flares of sensation down his sex.

"_Ten_," he begged, _"More."_

She smirked down at him, never ceasing her movements. One hand slowly rose to cup her breast, running the pads of her fingers over her nipple as she closed her eyes and hummed in pleasure, completely ignoring his plea.

There was something ridiculously erotic over her ignoring him in such a way, and as she continued to grind herself over him- never making quite enough movement to satisfy him, just enough to leave him desperately wanting more.

Neji moved his hips slightly under Tenten, trying to get her move faster, to use those sleekly muscled legs that so attracted him to ride him until they were both breathless and satisfied-

Her hand came down sharply on his chest, just enough to leave a lingering sting. "You'll move when I tell you to."

His cock twitched in response to the sheer command in her voice, and Tenten's mouth puckered into another smirk. "Good."

Her hand, still resting on his chest, made its way over and down his torso, fingers sliding over his nipple and dipping teasingly into his belly button before coming up to rest once more on his pectoral muscles.

Her other hand made its way down as well, and she leaned forward to prop her weight on her hands. Anticipation coiled tight within him.

Tenten lifted her hips and sank back down, beginning to ride him in earnest. Neji's hands flew up to grip her hips as he threw his head back, not entirely successfully biting back a moan.

"Shhh…" Tenten watched him with half-lidded eyes, still rocking her hips over his. Neji could hear the faintest of noises coming from where their sexes were joined together, and the lewdness of it made his breath catch.

It was nearly impossible for him to lay still as Tenten had commanded him to, but he fought off the urge to lift his hips in synchronization with hers, to thrust into her as she pushed against him…

Neji cracked his eyes open slightly- he hadn't even realized he'd closed them- to look up once more at Tenten.

She was looking at him with such focus and lust that a thrill went racing through him, and he was unexpectedly pleased to be watched in such a… predatory way. Tenten leaned down close, still riding him, and murmured in his ear, "Do you like it when I fuck you like this, Neji?"

The question went straight to his cock, and his chest heaved as Tenten continued, "I think you do. I think you like it when I dominate you, I think you like submitting to me…"

His hands clutched desperately at her hips. "I wonder what you'd do if I tied you up? If I spread you out and didn't release you until we couldn't possibly fuck anymore…"

She sucked and bit a hickey into his neck, then another on his shoulder, then _another _on the other side of his neck just below his jaw.

Her movements slowed suddenly as she seemed to catch a new though. "Or maybe I get a strapon and fuck _you _with that, Neji, would you like that?"

The very concept of Tenten with a strapon, fucking him with it while he was beneath her, stretched out and tied to the bed, was enough for Neji to ejaculate.

He threw his arms over her waist and desperately surged into her for a few moments, his hips involuntarily moving despite his efforts to lie back.

Tenten's movements slowly stopped, and she sat up to look at him thoughtfully, a glint in her eye. "I guess you _would _like that," she murmured. Neji just stared up at her, chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath, to muster the will to say anything other than a plea for her to take control of him, completely and utterly.

Tenten shifted her hips so he slipped out of her, pulling off the condom and discarding it carefully, then turned back to him.

"I think we learned some interesting information tonight," she murmured, reaching to twine a lock of his hair in her fingers. Neji fought to think coherently through his fog.

"...you didn't come."

"No," she said carelessly, "But you're about to take care of that."

She moved to lean back against the headboard again, spreading her legs. Neji rolled over, hitched one tanned thigh over his shoulder, and dipped his head.

* * *

Tenten really didn't want to do it, but cleaning up after sex (rather than being cuddled to sleep by her doting husband) was a necessity with two children sharing a room with them. She and Neji put their pajamas on and Neji got to work changing the bedsheets while Tenten guided Haruki's crib back into its position by the side of the bed, Haruki still slumbering away.

She glanced at the clock. It was only a little after 10:00 PM. _God, _they were getting good at this whole parenting thing.

Neji had finished putting new sheets on the bed and had moved into the bathroom to finish his nighttime routine. Tenten followed his steps and crossed to her sink, pulling out her toothbrush and beginning to brush her teeth while digging her makeup wipes out to get of the lingering residues of her foundation and mascara.

(Her lipstick had completely disappeared, rubbed off during their lovemaking, but hey- it had looked good while it lasted.)

Neji, having completed his own routine, crossed to her side and grabbed her brush off the counter to begin detangling the ends of her hair, an almost-nightly habit he had picked up soon after they moved into their first apartment together. It always made Tenten feel very warm and squishy inside.

They moved in silence for a few minutes as Tenten finished washing her face and teeth and Neji brushed out her hair with a few drops of hair oil, gently running it through his fingers until it was silken to the touch. He leaned past Tenten to put the brush away and kissed her temple.

She turned her head and pressed her mouth to his for a few moments before drawing away again to make her way back into the bedroom. All of the sudden she felt very sleepy.

She flopped into bed and wiggled her way under the covers, throwing her hand out and patting it around Neji's side of the bed to feel for him. When she couldn't find him, she poked her head up, very disgruntled, to look for him.

He was standing next to the bed, arms folded over his chest, watching her movements with absolutely no expression on his face.

She blinked up at him. "You getting in bed?"

"Depends," he said drily. "Are you going to move your arm so I can actually lie down?"

"I guess." Tenten retracted her arm back to her side of the bed just long enough for Neji to move the covers aside and lay down, then rocketed it back over to sprawl across his midsection. He turned to look at her, brows raised, and she pouted. "Cuddle me."

Obligingly he turned over so her back was against his chest and his arm over her waist, spooning her. If Tenten was a cat, she'd be purring.

It was too good of a thought to keep to herself, so she told it to Neji. He kissed the back of her head lovingly and said, "Hush, dearest."

"'I love you Tenten,'" She said in a low-pitched, mocking voice. "'Good night Tenten. Sweet dreams.' Aw thanks Neji."

He sighed against her scalp. "I love you, Tenten. Good night."

"Good night, Neji. I love you too." In a soft voice she said to herself, "Very very much."

He did not answer, but his head dipped to press his lips slowly against the nape of her neck.


	4. Chapter Four

**remember when i said i would update this over the weekend? i am a liar.**

**this is probably my fave chapter of this entire story**

* * *

Tenten was drifting off to sleep when she heard the murmurings of conversation somewhere in the room and chose to ignore it, rolling over slightly to lay on her side facing Neji. There was a slight movement in front of her as Neji leaned over and then rotated back, scooping something small and wiggly up off the ground and putting it onto the center of the bed. The wiggly thing moved around on its own for a few seconds, getting settled, then whispered in greeting, "Hi mom."

"Hi lovie," she murmured, never opening her eyes. Hui Na crawled over to her mother and laid down next to her, blanket in hand, tucking herself to Tenten's front and slowly settling down. Tenten raised one hand and gently stroked Hui Na's hair in soothing motions until the puffs of air against her skin slowed.

Tenten cracked her eyes open to check on Hui Na. She was asleep with her blanket draped carefully over her body, nose pressed to Tenten's collarbone as she slumbered away.

After one quick half-lidded glance at Neji- laying on his back with his hands folded over his stomach, chest rising and falling rhythmically as he counted his exhales to coax himself back to sleep- Tenten closed her eyes again, her consciousness faded, and she slept once more.

* * *

Haruki's snuffling cries woke her early in the morning, and she gently nudged a floppy and resistant Hui Na over to Neji's side of the bed so she could get up to change his diaper and nurse.

His quiet crying stopped the moment he saw her face over him in his crib, and she gave him a tired smile and quiet greeting that had him grinning back up at her. She changed his diaper quickly and efficiently before bringing him with her over to the bed and laying on her side to nurse.

When Haruki had been fed and burped, Tenten rolled back over and placed the baby down at her side to cuddle him.

On the other side of the bed, Hui Na had moved to lay entirely on top of Neji, resting on his chest with her blanket tented over her head and the rest of her completely uncovered, both arms flopping at her sides. She looked utterly ridiculous. For his part, Neji had one arm resting over Hui Na's spine, a slight protective curl to his fingers, as he peered over at Tenten through half-closed eyes, checking on her and Haruki. She blinked sleepily at him with a drowsy smile, and, reassured, he turned his head back to the front and closed his eyes.

Tenten yawned and turned back to Haruki, watching his eyelids flutter as he dozed off again. It seemed like a good idea, so she followed suit.

* * *

She woke up again an indeterminate amount of time later, opening her eyes to see Hui Na's feet kicking happily up on top of the other half of Tenten's pillow as she practiced reading aloud to Haruki.

They made a very charming sight, stretched out side by side on their tummies, backs to their parents, with all of their attention diverted to the book Hui Na had opened in front of them. Based on the two stacks of books in front of her, one the "finished" pile and the other the "to read" pile, she had been plugging away for a while.

"Oh look, Haruki-chan," she said, pointing to an image on the page. "There's the kitty-cat again."

"Ah-buh buh..." Haruki reached to touch Hui Na's hand with his own, babbling away.

Hui Na snorted. "No, not _buh_. Kitty-cat. Kit-ty ca-at."

Haruki let out a little baby growl and drooled on the page, slapping it with his palm and trying to grab the flat surface with his fingers. Hui Na sighed and shook her head.

Tenten grinned and said, her voice still thick with sleep, "It'll be awhile before he can say something like 'kitty-cat', lovie."

They both turned to look at her, identical pale eyes pressed almost cheek to cheek and looking so round and adorable that she had to fight back the urge to grab them both and squeeze them till they popped. Haruki's eyes rounded excitedly when he saw her smile, and he rocked up onto his hands and knees to crawl determinedly over to her side. He sat next to her head and touched her cheek with a squeal.

Tenten grabbed his little hand and blew a raspberry on the palm, sending him spiralling into giggles. Hui Na flopped down on Haruki's other side and said, "Morning mom!"

"Good morning, miss strawberry." Tenten cupped Hui Na's head in her hand and drew her in close to give her a wet, smacking smooch on the cheek that had her recoiling in protest. "I see you made your way into our room again last night."

"Yep. Baba lifted me into the bed."

"He did, did he?" Tenten raised her gaze past her children to look at Neji, who was still stubbornly trying to sleep despite their chatter and movement. "And when did you go get those books?"

"A lil' bit ago. I was awake but nobody else was up so I went to get them and then I got back and I started reading and then Haruki-chan woke up so I readed to him."

"That's nice. Did he like it?"

"Yep. He really liked the pictures. And also when I said things in a funny voice, _like this_." She pitched her voice up high and squeaky, and Haruki swung his head around to stare at her, mouth falling open in a disbelieving _O _as Hui Na squeaked, "Haruki-chan!"

Haruki shrieked with laughter. Behind them, Neji's lips twitched into a smile at the sound and Hui Na grinned at her brother, pleased with herself.

"He has such a good laugh, mom."

"Mm, yeah. Babies have cute laughs. You know," Tenten grinned and rolled onto her side to prop her head up on one hand while the other reached out to rest on Haruki's back, "You had the sweetest little laugh as a baby, lovie."

"Really?"

"Mmhm. You never really laughed like Haruki did, you know how he always kind of screams a little bit when he laughs?" Hui Na nodded. "Well, you always had very defined, clear giggles. You went, 'Hee hee hee!'"

Hui Na looked both pleased and embarrassed. Tenten smiled at her reaction and told her, "It was so cute. We must have taken about a thousand videos of you laughing."

"Can I see?"

"Hm, I'm not sure if I still have any on my phone or if I moved them all to my computer, but let me check." Tenten grabbed her phone off the bedside table- along with one of Haruki's teething rings, which she subsequently passed to him, to his delight- and opened the album for Hui Na's photos. Unfortunately, all of the photos were from when Hui Na was at least four.

"No baby videos, sweetheart, but I can find some on my computer later."

"I have baby videos," Neji rumbled, finally resigning himself to wakefulness. He scrolled through his phone for a few moments before rolling onto his side and wrapping his arm around Hui Na to show her the video. She leaned back against him, hooking one hand over his forearm as they both watched.

Tenten turned her attention to Haruki, smiling as she heard the distinctive giggle of a baby Hui Na from the phone speakers.

Haruki was concentrating very hard on trying to pull the teething ring apart, though of course he wasn't having much luck. He blew a raspberry, something he'd been doing more and more lately when he was entertaining himself- which he seemed to be fine with, a striking contrast from his sister, who wanted her parents' attention on her constantly from six months to three years of age.

(The terrible twos in particular had, most definitely, been terrible.)

Haruki glanced up at Tenten and saw her attention was on him, which made him grin and present the slimy, drool-coated toy for her inspection.

"That's pretty neato, lovebug," she told him.

"Ahhh-ah." He agreed, stuffing it back into his mouth.

"I'm so cute," Hui Na announced suddenly, watching another video and grinning.

"And so modest," Neji told her, tickling her ribs with his free hand. She shrieked and wiggled away madly, leaping across the bed to hide behind Tenten's legs.

After a moment, she peeked her head up, pointed at Neji, and declared, "Youuu can't caaatch me!"

Neji set his phone aside. "Oh really?"

Seconds later, Hui Na was screaming bloody murder as she ran out the bedroom door and down the hallway, Neji close on her heels. There was a thumping of footsteps, followed by another loud screech, then Hui Na was shrieking with laughter between loud protests about being tickled. Tenten could hear Neji's deep laughter underneath the screaming, and the sound made her smile.

Next to her, Haruki somehow threw the teething ring all the way to the other side of the bed, then looked very confused.

"Good arm," Tenten remarked to him.

"Mmmmmuh!" He agreed, placing both hands on her ribcage and trying to climb up onto his knees. She let him, one hand ready to balance him if he needed it.

The sound of giggling in the hallway grew closer, and soon Neji emerged in the doorway, grinning widely, with a red-faced and hysterically laughing Hui Na clutched upside-down in his arms.

Over the noise, he asked, "What do you want for breakfast, Tennie?"

"PANCAKES!" Hui Na yelled.

"I have no idea what you're saying," Neji told her. "You're upside down, which means all the words are upside-down too."

"That's not how it works!" Hui Na wiggled furiously in his arms. "Baba, make pancakes with strawberries!"

Tenten interjected, "You can't have dessert for breakfast, lovie."

"Why not? I like pancakes!"

"How about miso soup with rice and _nori_?" Tenten said, mostly to Neji.

"We're out of _nori_."

"Oh. That's right, we didn't go grocery shopping."

"Mm."

"Well, let's just scrounge around and see what we come up with." Tenten grabbed Haruki and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, tossing the baby in the air a little and cooing at him as he giggled. Neji set Hui Na down on her feet and she raced over to the steps, sitting down at the top and sliding down them with much thumping.

Neji and Tenten followed at a more sedate pace, Tenten with Haruki propped on her hip. At the top of the steps, Neji paused and asked, "Do you want to change before breakfast?" Tenten was still wearing the velvet sleep set from the night before, and while it was perfectly sexy it was also bound to be a little chilly downstairs.

She sighed, "Yeah, probably. Here-" She passed off Haruki, who grinned up at his father and let out a little happy noise, then made to turn and head back into the bedroom.

Neji caught her by the arm before she could leave and kissed her good morning, wrapping his free arm around her waist to hold her close. Tenten rested her hand on his shoulder, careful not to squish Haruki as they embraced.

Neji slid his hand down her waist and grabbed her ass, digging his fingers in and smirking as Tenten let out a startled noise.

"STOP KISSING!" Hui Na bellowed up the steps. They parted and looked down at her, with her hands propped on her hips and a scowl on her face.

"Busted," Tenten told Neji. She gave him one last quick peck (and he gave her one last squeeze) before going to get dressed. Neji made his way down the stairs and followed Hui Na into the kitchen, placing Haruki in his high chair and kissing the baby's cheek (to his gap-toothed grin of delight) before opening the pantry to consider their options.

Hui Na plopped herself down on the seat next to Haruki and said, "Baba, can I feed Haruki-chan his breakfast?"

"Yes," Neji said absently, preparing the rice in the cooker. "One moment, let me grab his porridge."

He set the bowl and spoon in front of Hui Na, then put Haruki's bib on. "There we go. All set."

Hui Na started sloppily spooning porridge into Haruki's excited mouth (and intermittently, between sad little sobs when he wasn't being fed as fast as he wanted) as Neji heated up the last of the miso soup he and Tenten had prepared last Sunday- they made a new batch every Sunday night for the entire week and had narrowed their portions down to a precise science.

With the soup on the stove, he pulled some pre-packaged _natto _out and put it in a serving dish for them to eat later, calling to Hui Na, "Little bird, do we want eggs or fish?"

"Pancakes!"

"Should have seen that coming," he murmured to himself, and pulled out both.

He was putting the fish on the skillet when Tenten came downstairs and started setting the table, engaging Hui Na in bright conversation and feeding Haruki a few spoonfuls of porridge before going into the kitchen.

"Aren't you the picture of a good house husband," she teased him, pulling out one of their aprons and drawing him close to put it on him. He obediently ducked his head so she could loop it around his neck, and once it was in place she kissed the tip of his nose before turning him around and tying it about his waist.

She slapped his ass. "Back to cooking, babe."

He stood there for a moment, feeling his flush work its way from his cheekbones to cover the rest of his face. "This is ridiculous."

"Mm-hm. Next time the kids spend the night at your uncle's place, you're cooking for me wearing nothing but this apron."

Neji started adding the scallions to the miso, feeling very, very flustered and very, very pleased.

Tenten idly flipped the fish in the skillet before pulling out another pan and starting to make the eggs. "Hui Na, sweetie, are you guys doing okay over there?"

"Yep! Haruki's barely even crying."

Tenten shook her head a little and grinned in incredulous resignation. "Wow, imagine that."

"That's pretty good for him," Neji commented, adding the scallions and then going over to take the rice out of the cooker and dishing it into their bowls.

Tenten put the fish on a serving plate, then poked at the eggs a little before flipping one onto each of their rice servings. She served the miso into the bowls, then stacked them up on one arm- her waitressing in high school and college was really paying off- grabbed the fish platter in the other hand, and headed to the table. Neji carefully balanced the rice and _natto_ and followed her.

Tenten took over feeding Haruki so Hui Na could eat, chattering with Neji between bites. She was very prim when it came to eating, chewing everything through very carefully and never speaking with food in her mouth. Neji was much the same.

Haruki, of course, was not.

Tenten fed her son the last bite of his oatmeal and he immediately began to whimper, looking inconsolable. She quickly wiped him down and settled him in her lap, which was the only real way to distract him from the tragedy of not being fed anymore.

She expertly ate with one hand while holding Haruki upright in the other, occasionally batting his curious hand away from hot bowls or non-baby friendly food. Persistently, he reached for her rice, cooing at it in an effort to make it move closer to him. (It did not.)

Once Neji had finished eating he took Haruki from her, bouncing the baby on one knee and holding a rather one-sided conversation with him.

Tenten always liked listen to Neji talk to babies or toddlers- he didn't change the cadence of his voice at all, and it really sounded like he was just trying to hold a conversation with them without realizing that all they did was babble back. His tone was often so dry that Tenten, eavesdropping off to the side, would have to fight back her laughter.

Haruki let out a squeal and nummed at his fingers. "Yes, precisely," Neji agreed stoically. Haruki chortled, delighted, and babbled away as his father continued to converse at him, most seriously.

Hui Na and Tenten cleared the dishes, and after a quick text to Lei's parents to ask if she could come over and play, started washing the dishes together. Tenten gave Neji and Haruki a considering look.

"My love, if you want to plop Haruki down in his play area and go meditate, I can keep an eye on him."

Neji glanced over from where he was bouncing Haruki in the air. "Are you certain?"

Tenten turned her head to the side so he wouldn't see her smile at his phrasing. Any other person would have said, "Really?" but Neji was _far _too distinguished for something that plebeian.

"Yes, I am. You haven't had the chance in a while, go ahead."

"Very well." Neji stood and tossed Haruki in the air as they made their way over to where the playpen was set up. (Haruki screeched in delight as he fell through the air and back into his father's arms, then once he was set back down he crawled madly towards where Neji had stacked away his baby toys the night before. He made short time of disassembling his work.)

Neji paused in the kitchen to kiss both Tenten's and Hui Na's heads before padding out into the sunroom and settling down onto a cushion, closing his eyes and feeling the roaring calm of winter sink into him.

He had no true concept of how much time passed, only that the sun had moved slightly in the sky, when he felt the clumsy-handed disturbance of a baby trying his best to crawl into his lap.

He opened his eyes and smiled down at Haruki, who was propping himself up with a fat baby hand on the top of Neji's legs and waving his other hand up towards Neji's face, trying to grab his hair.

Neji smiled down at his son. "Hello there, little man." He picked the baby up and pressed a kiss to his chubby cheek, then looked over to where Tenten stood in the doorway, beaming at them both. "Is this how you'll be getting my attention now?"

"Why not? Cutest, most charming little attention grabber _ever_. I just set him down and he books it right over to you."

"Well, aren't you just darling." Neji tossed Haruki in the air again- as of a few days ago, Haruki had started loving being tossed or swooped through the air and now Neji and Tenten both did it all the time, because his delighted laughter was the best reaction they could hope for- then rose to his feet, Haruki propped on his hip and cooing happily.

"So," Tenten began, "It's about 9:30 now, Lei is coming over to play at 10:00 and I sent Hui Na upstairs to get dressed so we won't be seeing her for the next twenty-five minutes while she picks her outfit, we still have absolutely nothing to eat and I think a grocery run is in order."

"All right. Why don't Haruki and I go shopping while you and Hui Na wait for Lei to get here?"

"Perfect. You're the smartest man in the universe." She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him.

"I don't know about that," he murmured against her lips.

"Smartest man in the world."

"Now _that_ is true."

Tenten guffawed. Haruki, left unsupervised for a brief moment as the two of them flirted, gleefully grasped a fistful of Neji's hair and shoved it into his mouth.


End file.
